Heritage · History · Research
The story written into this hillside
Four centuries of sugarcane, one of the island’s last primary forests, and the science of growing it back for historians, researchers and the curious.
HISTORY
THE SCOTLAND DISTRICT
Before sugar, Barbados was forest from coast to coast
When English settlers arrived in 1627, Barbados was densely forested. Within a few decades, almost all of it was cleared for sugarcane.
Sugarcane was the crop that shaped the island’s economy, landscape and society for the next three centuries. Today, over 90% of the island’s primary forest is gone.
The Scotland District, where Coco Hill sits, is different from the rest of the island. While most of Barbados is a flat coral limestone cap, erosion stripped that cap away here, exposing the older sedimentary rock beneath steep hills, gullies and unstable slopes that resisted the plantation grid. That geology is why fragments of older forest survived on these hillsides when it vanished everywhere else.
On Coco Hill’s east hill stands one of the last pieces of primary forest on the island. Protecting it and understanding what was lost around it is the heart of this project. Walking these trails is walking through both the pre-colonial landscape and the long shadow of the sugar era.
1627
SOIL EROSION
WHY TERRACES MATTER
When the trees left, the soil followed
The problem
Centuries of sugarcane monoculture left the Scotland District’s steep slopes bare between harvests. Without tree roots to hold it, topsoil washes downhill with every heavy rain the district remains the most erosion and landslip-prone part of Barbados.
Our answer
On the west hill we terrace the slopes and plant in layers canopy trees, fruit trees, root crops and ground cover together. Regenerative agroforestry rebuilds soil structure, slows runoff, and turns an eroding hillside back into a sponge.
The result
1,400+ trees and over 70 species now anchor the hill food for the island, habitat for wildlife, and living erosion control you can walk through on 3.5 km of trails.
RESEARCH
A LIVING LABORATORY
Fifty-three acres of open questions
Coconut genetics & nursery
Through the Alliance for Action – Coconuts 2 Project, coordinated by the International Trade Centre, our coconut nursery one of the first on the island propagates coconut trees for Barbados and supports research and monitoring on genetics, pests and diseases in the coconut sector.
Food systems & sovereignty
Since 2020, geographer and filmmaker Cloé Fortin has led a research and documentary project on the food system of Barbados, studying regenerative agroforestry at Coco Hill Forest and its potential to enhance food sovereignty and repair human-nature relationships on the island.
Syntropic agriculture
Our team applies syntropic methods dense, successional planting that mimics how forests grow naturally and shares what works with farmers, students and visiting researchers. Universities and student groups: we welcome internships and field visits, including through the UWI Give Back Programme.
Coming soon
The full Coco Hill species catalog
We are documenting every one of the 70+ species on the hill.
Botanical names, traditional Bajan uses, medicinal knowledge and planting notes. A reference for historians, herbalists and gardeners alike. Until then, explore the first entries on our Learn page.
WALK THE HISTORY
JOIN THE WORK
Visit Us
Richmond Road, St. Joseph, Barbados
Mon–Fri 10am–4pm
Sat & Sun 9am–5pm